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The richness of Phil Spector's production fills out the danceable grooves on nearly every track. Also featured is Lennon's paean to his adopted home, "New York City," with allusions to doping clerics and transsexual rockers as well as the highly quotable line, "What a bad-ass city!" On the bonus disc, Lennon and Ono get it on with Zappa and the Mothers in live sets from London and New York. Things heat up considerably with "Cold Turkey," freak out with "Don't Worry Kyoko," and veer into the ridiculous with audience participation on "Scumbag." SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY is some of the groovin'-est, most tuneful agit-prop ever committed to disc.
While Lennon claimed to have always been politically minded, given his working-class upbringing in class-conscious England ("I've been satirizing the system since my childhood," he once mused), rock-pop sensibilities, clever wordplay, or matters of the heart usually took precedence in his musical output. But here Lennon and Yoko, accompanied by New York's Elephant's Memory, sing and scream freely against sexism in "Woman Is the Nigger Of The World" and "Sisters, O Sisters." They protest incarceration in "John Sinclair," "Attica State," and "Born In A Prison," colonialism in "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "The Luck Of The Irish," and racism in "Angela."
Personnel: John Lennon (vocals, guitar); Bob Harris (vocals, keyboards); Yoko Ono (vocals, drums); Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman (vocals); Frank Zappa (guitar, background vocals); Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Wayne "Tex" Gabriel (guitar); Stan Bronstein (flute, saxophone); Bobby Keys (saxophone); Adam Ippolito (piano, organ); John Labosca (piano); Ian Underwood (keyboards, wind); Nicky Hopkins, Billy Preston (keyboards); Don Preston (synthesizer); Jim Pons (bass instrument, background vocals); Gary VanScyoc (bass instrument); Jim Keltner, Rick Frank (drums, percussion); Keith Moon , Aynsley Dunbar (drums).
Some Time In New York City Music
John Lennon - Some Time In New York City Songs
Some Time In New York City Music
Some Time In New York City Music Review
Average Rating: (3.1 out of 5 stars)    List All 14 Reviews well, he tried.
I had such high hopes for this album. It seemed that it would at least be half-way decent, unfortunately it's not. If you're a Lennon fan it might be worth buying. The lyrics to the songs are very political and at some points attain an artistic intelligence that we know Lennon is capable of. The big feature of this album is of course the second disc which is a recording of a concert at the Fillmore East of the John & Yoko Plastic Ono Band and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. Zappa and Lennon together in concert, they even write a song together. The song is one word repeated again and again, which sucks. If you enjoy hearing Yoko shriek like a cat being beaten by a lead pipe (which she does for everything but one song) then buy this album. Otherwise con one of your friends into buying it and steal the good stuff off of them.
Submitted by Jerry (Lansing, NY) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
 Protest Music at its Best!
The first disc is great, including Yoko. I especially like "The Luck of the Irish" and "Attica State." The live jam with Frank Zappa on the second disc is just marvelous.
Submitted by a reviewer (North Garden, VA)
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Worth the offence for the good bits.
Its got some great vocals, great music, great intentions, comletely of its time, essential for an antidote to the public perception of Lennon the pacifist, still manages to annoy 30 odd years on, Angela is weak, Luck of the Irish is beyond parody and contept, still its a great listen, but its also awful at the same time.
Submitted by Edwin (Whitby, England)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Second Best for Lennon!
Sometime In New York City from 1972, is a great album! The songs are wild, messy and very naked. The cynical ideas expressed behind those songs is thought provoking and inspriring to hear. Cold Turkey is brilliant along with New York City and a few others but I like them all and it is Lennons second best album in my book right next to Plastic Ono Band.
Submitted by keithsilvers (Wisconsin, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  Lennon's most underrated album
This album was rubbished when it was released and is invariably described as Lennon's weakest work even by those who ought to know better. While it doesn't come off well in comparisons with the excellent Imagine and the sublime Plastic Ono Band, I've always found it considerably more interesting than Mind Games and Walls And Bridges. The lyrics are highly charged politically, but by no means are they all doggerel - and some of them are fairly potent. The second, "live" disc is less enjoyable, but the first one needs to be a part of any half decent Lennon collection.
Submitted by mahirali (Sydney, Australia)
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